Peek inside the all-new DreamWorks Theatre attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood before it opens June 15

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Inside the new DreamWorks Theatre, which has replaced Shrek 4-D and uses projection mapping throughout the space. The theater will present “Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor’s Quest,” at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City on Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (Photo by Nick Agro, Contributing Photographer)

The main entrance to the DreamWorks Theatre, with its high arch vestibules, sparkling fish pond and detailed Spanish tiles, leads guests by a box office ticket booth where a snoozy Pinocchio is slacking off on the job. After winding through the queue line, patrons will be led into a grand holding room after passing through and under a few subtle nods to DreamWorks Animation characters that are hidden in plain sight within the iron work leading up to the start of the attraction.

The new DreamWorks Theatre, which has replaced Shrek 4-D, will present “Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor’s Quest,” an attraction that utilizes projecting mapping throughout the theater at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City on Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (Photo by Nick Agro, Contributing Photographer)

Pinocchio from Shrek sits in the ticket booth of the new DreamWorks Theatre, which has replaced Shrek 4-D. The theater will present “Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor’s Quest,” an attraction that utilizes projecting mapping throughout the theater at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City on Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (Photo by Nick Agro, Contributing Photographer)

A hammer stuck in a wall of the DreamWorks Theatre, which has replaced Shrek 4-D. The theater will present “Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor’s Quest,” an attraction that utilizes projecting mapping throughout the theater at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City on Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (Photo by Nick Agro, Contributing Photographer)

A sword from Kung Fu Panda and various wards won by DreamWorks inside the new DreamWorks Theatre, which has replaced Shrek 4-D. The theater will present “Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor’s Quest,” an attraction that utilizes projecting mapping throughout the theater at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City on Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (Photo by Nick Agro, Contributing Photographer)

The new DreamWorks Theatre, which has replaced Shrek 4-D, will present “Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor’s Quest,” an attraction that utilizes projecting mapping throughout the theater at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City on Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (Photo by Nick Agro, Contributing Photographer)

The lobby of the new DreamWorks Theatre, which has replaced Shrek 4-D. The theater will present “Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor’s Quest,” an attraction that utilizes projecting mapping throughout the theater at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City on Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (Photo by Nick Agro, Contributing Photographer)

The new DreamWorks Theatre, which has replaced Shrek 4-D, will present “Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor’s Quest,” an attraction that utilizes projecting mapping throughout the theater at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City on Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (Photo by Nick Agro, Contributing Photographer)

The new DreamWorks Theatre, which has replaced Shrek 4-D, will present “Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor’s Quest,” an attraction that utilizes projecting mapping throughout the theater at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City on Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (Photo by Nick Agro, Contributing Photographer)

The lobby of the new DreamWorks Theatre, which has replaced Shrek 4-D. The theater will present “Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor’s Quest,” an attraction that utilizes projecting mapping throughout the theater at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City on Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (Photo by Nick Agro, Contributing Photographer)

The new DreamWorks Theatre, which has replaced Shrek 4-D, will present “Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor’s Quest,” an attraction that utilizes projecting mapping throughout the theater at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City on Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (Photo by Nick Agro, Contributing Photographer)

A projection made to look like a wood carving inside the DreamWorks Theatre, which has replaced Shrek 4-D. The theater will present “Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor’s Quest,” an attraction that utilizes projecting mapping throughout the theater at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City on Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (Photo by Nick Agro, Contributing Photographer)

Pinocchio from Shrek sits in the ticket booth of the new DreamWorks Theatre, which has replaced Shrek 4-D. The theater will present “Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor’s Quest,” an attraction that utilizes projecting mapping throughout the theater at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City on Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (Photo by Nick Agro, Contributing Photographer)

Inside the new DreamWorks Theatre, which has replaced Shrek 4-D and uses projection mapping throughout the space. The theater will present “Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor’s Quest,” at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City on Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (Photo by Nick Agro, Contributing Photographer)

They’ll also go through a hallway that will include a variety of posters that showcase popular DreamWorks films like the “Kung Fu Panda,” “How to Train Your Dragon,” “Shrek” and “Madagascar” franchises and get an up-close look at some of the awards DreamWorks has received for its films including several Academy Awards, American Music Awards, a Grammy, Kid’s Choice Awards, People’s Choice Awards and Golden Globes.

“We’re really excited about this because they’re the newest member of the family and it happened very quickly, which has been pretty cool,” Jon Corfino, Universal Creative Project Director and Show Producer, said during a recent tour of the DreamWorks Theatre attraction.

Once inside the pre-show area, patrons will start to get the story behind “Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor’s Quest,” as well as meet several other characters from DreamWorks films via a series of media panels on the walls. The Universal Creative team used cutting edge technology to put together the multi-sensory attraction and there are no 3-D glasses needed to experience this 180-degree immersive journey.

Digital mapping technology will draw guests into the plot-filled story that begins on the morning of The Emperor’s Great Feast of Heroes and finds Po heading out on a perilous mission through raging rapids, fighting river pirates and through the Spirit Realm as he uses his sweet Kung Fu moves and discovers some awesome magic in an effort to deliver the Liquid of Limitless Power back to the Palace. At a certain point in the adventure, the whole theater blows apart and guests are sucked into the action as Po tries to get back from the Spirit Realm. Universal Creative worked directly with DreamWorks to really dig deep into the DNA of each of the characters and ensure that they truly captured the humor, sensibility and of course the integrity of the characters within the DreamWorks brand.

“We took the film to the next level in adding all of this immersion to it,” Corfino said of “The Emperor’s Quest.” “We brought it around to the sides and expanded out, added new characters and the really fun part was figuring out how to do something you’ve never done before. We thought it was fascinating because we’ve all seen video mapping and projection on the outsides of buildings, but we haven’t seen a lot of folks actually try to transform an interior space, so that was an exciting challenge for us.”

Once guests are actually seated inside the theater, which holds about 240 people at a time, the curtains open and the film begins. However, the room is actually all painted grey and it’s the digital projection that makes the space come to life. It’s a perfect illusion because it all looks real enough to touch. Each new plush theater seat will pivot and swivel seamlessly along with the film and there are water and wind effects, as well as crisp 360-degree sound.

Since Universal’s acquisition of DreamWorks Animation in 2016, the theme park has begun n to roll out several DreamWorks film roaming characters into the park to interact with guests, including Branch and Poppy from “Trolls,” Alex, King Julien and the penguins of “Madagascar,” Po, Tigress and Mr. Ping from “Kung Fu Panda” and Puss in Boots from the “Shrek” films joined Shrek, Fiona and Donkey who were already integrated into the park as part of the Shrek 4-D attraction, which opened in 2003.

With such a wealth of material to work from with DreamWorks, Corfino said that in the future the attraction would be able to change out “Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor’s Quest” to feature another character and another film, though there are no definitive plans or dates for that at this time.

“It’s been acknowledged that with a company as rich in content as DreamWorks and a space as flexible as this, it would only make sense to do that,” he added. “We wouldn’t have to change as much as we did say with ‘Back to the Future’ turning into ‘The Simpsons,’ but we don’t currently have any plans to do that. I certainly like talking about it, though.”

“That’s the fun payoff,” he said. “You get to see people take that momentary leap in terms of immersion, which is kind of that magic moment where you go ‘Wait a minute, this isn’t a theater.’ It’s fun seeing people react to those sorts of things, whether it’s something simple as pressing the nuclear reactor button over in Springfield, which everyone wants to do, or interacting with the minions over at Despicable, or of course the Harry Potter experience, which is tremendous, and now this with DreamWorks Theatre. We’re looking forward to seeing how guests react when we really blow this whole place up.”

Universal Studios Hollywood

Where: 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City

When: Open daily; Hours vary by date

Tickets: $105-$116 single-day general admission; $179-$259 Universal Express; $329 and up for the VIP Experience; $129-$159 two-day general admission at 866-258-6546 or UniversalStudiosHollywood.com

Kelli Skye Fadroski lives for entertainment. She’s worked at The Orange County Register since 2006 and has covered all things music, stand-up comedy, horror and more. When she’s not out reviewing a concert or interviewing some random famous person, she’s catching up on episodes of 'The Walking Dead,' somewhere sampling craft beer, enjoying Taco Tuesday or yelling at the contestants through the TV on 'Celebrity Name Game' for not knowing basic pop culture trivia. She’s also a diehard Detroit Lions fan.